Firsts

I joined a long training ride for the Triadventure today, agreeing to be the steering committee rider, knowing that I can’t keep up with the front riders but can competently “sweep” (stay at the back, make sure no one gets lost or left behind).

365/23 7.27

It was a lot of firsts: first time I’d ridden anywhere resembling this far in four years, since I had that epic and amazing ride in the stretch between Banff and Lake Louise on my way back across the country; first time I’d ever ridden anywhere close to this far with other people; first time I’ve done this kind of ride with so much city at the end, when I’m tired; pretty close to my top distance ever in a single ride.

In the last stretch, down Birchmount with the traffic whizzing past, and after the van from Florida nearly wiped out three of us before banging into the curb in front of us (was he TRYING to hit us? Texting? just an idiot?), and after a woman THOUGHT she’d hit us and stopped to deeply apologize (no, other guy was idiot, thank you!), I got into fairly high anxiety mode. Somehow convinced myself that I wouldn’t be able to unclip at a light, that my clips were getting tighter and tighter. I was plenty fatigued, and often fall over at the end of a long ride from inattentiveness to my clips, but usually it’s not in heavy traffic.

It was at that point where Heather cheerfully said “you don’t expect the last bit to be so BRUTAL!”

I laughed long and hard. The last bit WAS brutal, and I was spent. But pretty pleased that I’m fit enough to do this.